I wrote my name upon the sand, And trusted it would stand for aye; But, soon, alas! the refluent sea Had washed my feeble lines away.
I carved my name upon the wood, And, after years, returned again; I missed the shadow of the tree That stretched of old upon the plain.
To solid marble next, my name I gave as a perpetual trust; An earthquake rent it to its base, And now it lies, o'erlaid with dust.
All these have failed. In wiser mood I turn and ask myself, "What then?" If I would have my name endure, I'll write it on the hearts of men,
In characters of living light, Of kindly deeds and actions wrought. And these, beyond the touch of time, Shall live immortal as my thought.
3. Tyger Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire of thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspire? What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art. Could twist the sinews of thy heart? And when thy heart began to beat, What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain? In what furnace was thy brain? What the anvil? what dread grasp Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears, And watered heaven with their tears, Did he smile his work to see? Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Carving a Name and Tyger are two great pieces of literature; they are works of art directly from the heart and created at the zenith of the careers of two great poets. In the former, the author tells us about his journey to discover a great truth: that of creating a name for ourselves, while in Tyger, we are told of a ferocious beast, a monster created by a merciless God with tools straight from the forges of Hell. These two statements are completely different, though they are both quite true and completely heartfelt. Structure-wise, these two poems are quite similar, following the same basic format of five paragraphs with four lines each, though in rhyme scheme, they differ. Tyger has an A,A,B,B, rhythmic pattern, while Carving a Name follows the A,B,C,B mold. Looking at the poems respective use of poetic devices, I notice that both chef-d’oeuvres have an extensive metaphors, although, while Tyger uses them to strike fear into the hearts of men, with metaphors such as “In what distant deeps or skies, burnt the fire of thine eyes?” and “When the stars threw down their spears, and watered heaven with their tears.”, Carving a Name attempts to teach us a lesson, with metaphors such as “If I would have my name endure, I'll write it on the hearts of men.” And “In characters of living light, of kindly deeds and actions wrought.” Neither poem uses similes, though they both use copious amounts of imagery to get their points across. After having explored both poems in depth, we can conclude that, though they have two very different points, they roughly have the same structure and employ the same literary devices.
I wrote my name upon the sand,
And trusted it would stand for aye;
But, soon, alas! the refluent sea
Had washed my feeble lines away.
I carved my name upon the wood,
And, after years, returned again;
I missed the shadow of the tree
That stretched of old upon the plain.
To solid marble next, my name
I gave as a perpetual trust;
An earthquake rent it to its base,
And now it lies, o'erlaid with dust.
All these have failed. In wiser mood
I turn and ask myself, "What then?"
If I would have my name endure,
I'll write it on the hearts of men,
In characters of living light,
Of kindly deeds and actions wrought.
And these, beyond the touch of time,
Shall live immortal as my thought.
3. Tyger
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?
In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare sieze the fire?
And what shoulder, & what art.
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand? & what dread feet?
What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? what dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?
When the stars threw down their spears,
And watered heaven with their tears,
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the Lamb make thee?
Tyger! Tyger! burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?
Carving a Name and Tyger are two great pieces of literature; they are works of art directly from the heart and created at the zenith of the careers of two great poets. In the former, the author tells us about his journey to discover a great truth: that of creating a name for ourselves, while in Tyger, we are told of a ferocious beast, a monster created by a merciless God with tools straight from the forges of Hell. These two statements are completely different, though they are both quite true and completely heartfelt.
Structure-wise, these two poems are quite similar, following the same basic format of five paragraphs with four lines each, though in rhyme scheme, they differ. Tyger has an A,A,B,B, rhythmic pattern, while Carving a Name follows the A,B,C,B mold.
Looking at the poems respective use of poetic devices, I notice that both chef-d’oeuvres have an extensive metaphors, although, while Tyger uses them to strike fear into the hearts of men, with metaphors such as “In what distant deeps or skies, burnt the fire of thine eyes?” and “When the stars threw down their spears, and watered heaven with their tears.”, Carving a Name attempts to teach us a lesson, with metaphors such as “If I would have my name endure, I'll write it on the hearts of men.” And “In characters of living light, of kindly deeds and actions wrought.” Neither poem uses similes, though they both use copious amounts of imagery to get their points across.
After having explored both poems in depth, we can conclude that, though they have two very different points, they roughly have the same structure and employ the same literary devices.